This is the third edition of this text, revised and updated to include the conclusion of many treaties, especially in the fields of fisheries and pollution, developments in the practice of individual states and the settlement of several maritime disputes by international tribunals.

The 1982 UN convention on the Law of the Seas entered into force, in 1994. It remains unclear whether, and if so when, the UK and the USA might ratify the treaty, but enough states have ratified to make clear that the 1982 Convention is now to be regarded as the basic framework of the international law of the sea.